Always
by FleurHartz
Summary: **updated** Chapter Three is up! J/I finish their little talk, and Syd starts to fight back against her captor.
1. Missing

A/N- I think that there needs to be more Jack/Irina fics out there, and this little story has been running around in my head these past few days, so here ya go! Please review!  
Disclaimer- Sadly, I own nothing from Alias-it all belongs to ABC and Bad Robot.   
  
Always  
Part I-The Abduction  
  
Irina heard the doors leading to her cell open. She got up from where she had been stretching on the ground, feeling her muscles ache slightly. She went to stand at the glass, hoping it was Jack or Sydney. To her disappointment, Kendall stepped in front of the cell.  
  
"Miss Derevko, are you feeling up to another trip?"  
  
She smiled slightly.  
  
"Let me check my schedule."  
  
Kendall, of course, was not amused.  
  
"I'm really not in the mood for this, Derevko."  
  
"Well, are you in the mood for telling me what kind of mission I would be going on?"  
  
"Your daughter has been kidnapped."  
  
Irina's breath caught in her throat, her smirk disappearing immediately.  
  
"Agent Bristow and Agent Vaughn were having dinner together and clearly violating protocol, I might add. The Alliance has been keeping tabs on both Jack and Sydney ever since Ariana Kane mentioned to them that Jack might be the one blackmailing Sloane. Three of the Alliance's men followed Sydney to the restaurant, and upon spotting her with a known CIA agent, kidnapped them both and presumably brought them into their private custody for questioning Sydney on her betrayal of SD-6 and most likely, killing Agent Vaughn. Fortunately, the CIA alerted Jack of their disappearance and he intercepted the message to Sloane. So, for now, Sydney's double-agent status is safe. For now. The three men who have them have not been officially accepted into the Alliance. They know that something like the killing of a CIA agent and a betrayer of SD-6 would probably guarantee their acceptance."  
  
Irina was, for probably the first time in her life, speechless.  
  
"All we know is that the Alliance's headquarters are in London. Jack, of course, has asked to leave immediately on a recovery mission of his daughter and Agent Vaughn. He requested your presence on this mission, and why I doubt he made this request in a totally sane state; I see no reason to deny him this seeing how helpful you were on your last mission. Of course, this is only if you agree to the standard operations that apply when you're released."  
  
"Of course." Irina said, just wanting to get out of this damn cell and get to London.  
  
Kendall motioned to the guard to open her cell.   
  
"Jack should be here any minute. There's a plane waiting for both of you."  
  
At that moment, Jack came rushing through the door. Irina looked at him in shock. She had never seen him look this distraught. His face was deathly pale and his eyes were slightly bloodshot. Sydney had been in trouble before-but never this bad. Her double-agent status had never been so close to discovery. Irina didn't even want to think of what they would do to Sydney and her precious Agent Vaughn if her betrayal was discovered.   
  
"Irina, we have to go now." Jack said in a slightly strained voice.  
  
"I trust you two can take it from here. Jack will administer the safety device the CIA demands to you in the plane. Good luck." Kendall gave them a nod, and left.  
  
Jack immediately turned to go. Irina practically had to break into a run to keep up with him.  
  
"Our bags and aliases are already on the plane. A British intelligence agent named Arthur Caleb has been working as a double agent for SD-9 and knows the whereabouts of Sydney and Vaughn. He has agreed to lead us to them. All he knows about us is that we're close to Sydney and work for the CIA. Tonight, we'll check into the Lexington as Mr. and Mrs. Wellington, a vacationing couple. Tomorrow, we'll meet Agent Caleb at the location and time he will inform me of tonight." Jack was speaking very quickly, but by the time he was done, they had reached the plane.   
  
"Did you get all that?" He asked her as they settled into their seats.  
  
"Yes." Irina replied as he handed her her passport and suitcase packed with clothes from the luggage hold.  
  
"Wait a minute…I have to give you this." Jack pulled out something from his bag.  
  
"What is that?"  
  
"The CIA said I have to inject this into the back of your neck. Basically, it's a completely harmless device unless I feel like I need to activate it. If I do, the device will release a poisonous serum that will kill you in five seconds."  
  
Irina looked at the needle, wincing slightly. She might be tough, but she had never been a big fan of shots. She pulled her hair off her neck, leaning forward slightly. She felt a slight prick, but nothing more. It was practically painless.  
  
"Done." Jack said, as she raised her head up again.  
  
"That wasn't so bad." She said.  
  
Jack smiled a little, but just as soon as the smile was there, it was gone, and he was looking through his suitcase.  
  
She opened the bag, and as she started looking through it, she noticed how rigidly Jack was sitting. She looked over at him.  
  
"Jack…she'll be all right. We can do this." She put an assuring hand on his arm without really thinking. He tensed up even more noticeably when she did.  
  
"I'm going to go change." She said quietly, leaving for the back of the plane.   
  
Jack put his head in the hands, mentally commanding himself to get it together. Sydney and Vaughn were both very capable agents. Agent Caleb had always given reliable intel in the past. He wondered silently why he had even requested Irina come with him. It was strange, but when he had heard the news about Sydney, he an odd longing for her to be there with him, to help him on this mission. It was her daughter too, after all.  
  
~*~  
  
Sydney woke up with a start. Where the hell was she? She felt a dull aching all over her body and realized her hands were cuffed behind her back and her ankles were securely chained to the chair she was sitting in. She blinked a few times, her eyes trying to adjust to the light shining in her eyes.   
  
She looked around the slightly dim room and saw suddenly that she wasn't alone. Vaughn was also tightly chained to a chair next to her.  
  
"Vaughn, wake up." She whispered, her heart twisting at his severely bruised eye and busted lip.  
  
He didn't move.   
  
Suddenly, Sydney sensed there was someone watching them. Squinting through the light, she saw an unfamiliar face looking at them. It was a young man, probably not much older than her.   
  
"Agent Bristow, you've surely taken your time in waking up." He said with a slight British accent.  
  
"Who are you?" She asked, her brain foggily remembering what had happened before her capture.   
  
She and Vaughn had been at a restaurant…men had come through the front door…men with guns. She remembered getting up to fight and seeing the butt of a gun coming towards her face. She hadn't ducked fast enough…and after that, everything was a blur. She decided she must have been drugged as well, she felt far too strange to just have jetlag.  
  
"Who are you?" She repeated again, more loudly this time.  
  
"Perhaps the more appropriate question, Miss Bristow, would be who are you? One minute you're a loyal SD-6 agent, and the next, you're working against Sloane and for the CIA. I afraid you might be a little confused about whose side you're on. Let me help you understand. This man, who you were with," The young man motioned towards Vaughn, "he's not on your side. He wants to bring on the destruction of the Alliance. That is not something that should make you happy." He said in a patronizing tone.  
  
"Get to the point." Sydney said through gritted teeth.   
  
"My point is, Miss Bristow, if you're really loyal to the Alliance, this shouldn't bother you a bit." The man took Vaughn's limp arm, and twisted it until Sydney heard a horrible crack.  
  
Vaughn awoke then, screaming in pain.   
  
"Stop it!" Sydney yelled, struggling against her restraints.  
  
"I'm not going to stop until you tell me whose side you're really on!" The man yelled back.  
  
Sydney fell silent, tears clouding her vision as Vaughn bit his bottom lip as hard as he could so he would not scream again.  
  
~*~  
  
"I'm James Wellington, and this is my wife, Emily." Jack smiled at the hotel clerk.  
  
The man smiled back, pulling up their reservation.  
  
"Ah, yes, you two will be staying in Room 422. Have a pleasant stay in London."  
  
"We always do." Irina said in a flawless British accent, taking their room key from the clerk. The hotel clerk looked a little flustered when she smiled at him, tossing her newly acquired dark black curls over one shoulder.   
  
"Let's go, Emily." Jack said, impatiently leading her towards the elevator.  
  
"So possessive." She whispered to the hotel clerk, winking.  
  
She and Jack got on the elevator with their bags. Jack kept getting his cell phone out of his bag, nervously looking to see if he'd missed Agent Caleb's call.  
  
"Jack, he'll call. You have got to relax."  
  
"Easy for you to say. You were probably just glad to have an excuse to get out of your cell."  
  
"Oh, of course, because Sydney means absolutely nothing to me." Irina said sarcastically.  
  
Jack choked back the easy response to that comment, deciding instead to stay silent.   
  
Suddenly his phone rang, and he answered it immediately.  
  
"This is Jack," he said, listening for a moment, "We'll be there."  
  
Irina looked at him expectantly.  
  
"We're going to meet him at 10:00 a.m. at the parking garage on Welsh Avenue. He'll take us from there."  
  
Irina nodded.  
  
They reached their room, and Irina unlocked the door.  
  
"This is nice." She said, looking around the room.  
  
"I'm tired. I'll sleep on the floor." Jack said abruptly.  
  
Irina noticed then that was there was only one bed.  
  
"Don't be ridiculous, Jack. We've just gotten off a twelve-hour flight, you need to get some rest. We slept in the same bed for ten years, I don't think it would kill either of us."  
  
"Things were different then." Jack said harshly, grabbing his toothbrush and going into the bathroom. He slammed the door.  
  
Irina changed her clothes, grabbing her toothbrush as well. She went into the bathroom, where Jack was splashing cold water on his face.  
  
He noticed her presence, and looked up at her with an expression she couldn't quite identify.  
  
"Good night." He said abruptly, walking by her and closing the door behind him.  
  
"Night." Irina said softly.  
  
By the time Irina got into bed, Jack was already asleep. She smiled sadly. He worked too hard, he didn't need all this with Sydney right now. She suddenly realized she was exhausted as well, and rolled onto her side, almost instantly falling asleep.  
  
~*~  
  
Laura Bristow heard the familiar sound of their garage opening.   
  
"Syd! Daddy's home!" She called, hearing Sydney's footsteps racing down the stairs.  
  
"I drew Daddy a picture of us at Disney World! I'm so excited we're finally going!" Sydney smiled widely, revealing the gap where she had just lost a tooth.  
  
"Well, it's your seventh birthday, Syd. That doesn't just happen everyday." Laura smiled back, ruffling her daughter's shiny brown hair.  
  
"I'm home!" Jack called, setting his briefcase down, and loosening his tie. He smiled at the sight of his wife and daughter laughing together in the kitchen. Today had been a chaotic day at work; it was always a relief to be home with his family.  
  
"Daddy, I drew a picture of you, me, and Mommy at Disney World!" Sydney raced towards him, hugging him tightly around the waist.  
  
She handed him the picture, showing a surprisingly well-drawn portrait of Jack, Laura, and Sydney standing in front of the Epcot center. Of course, the Epcot center was what Sydney was most excited about. She had always been very smart for her age.  
  
"This is great, Sydney, thank you." Jack smiled down at his daughter.  
  
"Mom got me a brand new suitcase, I'll go get it!" Sydney raced off again.  
  
"Hey." Laura smiled at him, putting her arms around his neck.  
  
"Hey." He replied, kissing her as he always did when he got home.  
  
"Hard day?" She asked.  
  
"Much better now." He smiled, thinking how lucky he was.  
  
They kissed again, longer this time, just as Sydney came racing back down the stairs, her new suitcase thumping behind her.  
  
"Look, daddy, isn't it great?" She rolled it into the room.  
  
"Very nice, Syd." Jack agreed, his arm still around Laura's waist.  
  
"All right, well I have to go put the chicken in the oven. It's teriyaki tonight." Laura winked at Jack. That was what they had had on their first date, and he caught the meaning immediately.  
  
"My favorite." He grinned.  
  
"I love teriyaki!" Sydney shrieked, racing into the kitchen to help her mom.  
  
Jack sat down for a minute, his feet aching slightly. Today had seemed like it would never end. But now it was over. And he was home with the two people who meant the most to him in the entire world.   
  
~*~  
  
Jack suddenly snapped awake from his dream. A random memory of such a long time ago…why on earth had he dreamed that? He looked over at Irina's sleeping figure next to him, thinking of how much things had changed. Those times were gone. But the memories, and the feelings, refused to fade. He fell back into a restless sleep.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N- Part Two will be up shortly! Hope everyone enjoyed this, please leave a review. And don't worry-much more J/I and S/V is coming! 


	2. Heart to Heart

A/N- Thanks so much for all the awesome reviews! Keep 'em coming! Oh little correction- it should have been Syd's sixth birthday in Jack's dream. Anyway, on with the story!  
  
Always  
Part Two  
  
Irina heard Jack stir next to her, and woke up with a start. She had always been a light sleeper.  
  
"Jack…are you awake?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"What's the matter?" She asked softly, rolling over to face his back.  
  
"I just had a dream."  
  
"About Sydney?"   
  
"Yes." He sounded like he didn't want to talk about it anymore.  
  
"Goodnight, Jack."  
  
"Night."  
  
~*~  
  
Vaughn wanted to lose consciousness. He didn't want to be aware of what was happening to him anymore. He didn't blame Sydney- he knew she couldn't talk. They were probably going to kill him anyway; it would be pointless to blow her cover as well.  
  
It was strange thinking that he might be dead soon. He felt like there was still so much for him to do. He wanted to obliterate SD-6, get married, have a family, and grow old in Florida where he and Syd could go jogging in matching windsuits. But that was never going to happen. He didn't want to die.  
  
Vaughn was vaguely aware that the man finally left the room. His arm was broken, and he was pretty sure he had a black eye and a busted lip. Before the man had left, he had hit Vaughn in the mouth with what he assumed to be a baseball bat. One of Vaughn's back teeth felt very loose.   
  
He forced one eye open, slowly turning his throbbing head to see Sydney struggling against her restraints. She noticed his gaze.  
  
"Vaughn…I am so sorry. I'm going to get us out of here, don't worry. It'll all be over soon." She tried to smile assuredly at him, but the tears flowing down her cheeks made it a little less comforting.  
  
~*~  
  
"Irina…wake up. We've got to go." Jack shook her shoulder slightly.  
  
She blinked a few times to get used to the light and saw that Jack was already fully dressed. Of course. She couldn't remember him ever sleeping later than 8:00 in the entire time they had been married. She smiled slightly at him, still a little bleary-minded from sleep.  
  
"Ten more minutes?" She asked.  
  
"Irina, come on. We don't have time for this." Jack was a little taken aback at how unprofessional she was being.  
  
"All right, all right. I'm going to go shower." She got out of bed, walking towards the bathroom.  
  
"Hurry- it's already 8:30."  
  
"I think we'll be fine, Jack-we're meeting him at 10:00, right?" He heard her ask as she turned on the shower.  
  
"Right. " Jack said, distracted by checking over their gear again.   
  
A few moments later, she turned off the shower. Irina walked back into the room in her towel, her long dark hair dripping on the carpet. Jack looked up for an instant, and felt his heart jump slightly. She was so beautiful. That was the one absolute truth he knew about her.   
  
Irina turned to look at him and their eyes locked. Neither spoke for a moment. Neither knew what to say.  
  
Irina finally looked away, grabbing her black outfit off the chair. Jack looked away as she began to change. How did she still manage to have this undeniable effect on him? It was like every wall he had spent so long building up crumbled when they were together. He couldn't let her keep doing this to him, and he could certainly never act on these emotions. No, that would be the worst thing he could do.   
  
~*~  
  
Sydney had rubbed her wrists raw fighting the handcuffs. They weren't very strong; she could feel them start to give against the back of her chair. She rubbed harder, breaking the skin but not feeling a thing.   
  
Finally, one chain link broke. Sydney felt the rush of adrenaline that came with the promise of escape. The man must have taken the key to the rest of their shackles with him though, she would have to wait until he came back. But when he did…this time she'd be ready. She looked over at Vaughn and her resolve was strengthened.   
  
~*~  
  
Jack and Irina checked out of the hotel at 9:30. After being wonderfully polite to the desk clerk, they left quickly, Jack dialing Caleb's number on his cell phone.   
  
"Would you be interested in refinancing your home?" Jack said in a British accent, alerting Caleb that they were on their way.  
  
"I don't do business over the phone." Arthur Caleb said curtly, hanging up and heading for the warehouse immediately.  
  
"So you've worked with this man in the past?" Irina asked.  
  
"Yes, but always under different aliases. His information has never proved false, let's hope that trend continues."  
  
They reached the parking garage then, just as a light rain began to fall. A dark black Mercedes was the lone car parked there, with a tall, red-headed man sitting inside it. As soon as he saw Jack, he got out and walked over to the elevator, ignoring them. They followed nonchalantly, getting in with him. As soon as the doors closed, the man pushed the Emergency Stop button.  
  
"So nice to meet you both." The man said in a Cockney accent, smiling widely to reveal startling white teeth.  
  
"Likewise, Agent Caleb. I'm Agent James Wellington and this is my wife and fellow agent, Emily." Jack motioned towards Irina, hoping her disguise was enough to assure Arthur that this wasn't Irina Derevko. Surely he had heard of her.   
  
"Thank you so much for your help on our mission, Agent Caleb. We were coming up with no leads on the disappearance of two of our agents." Irina shook his hand.  
  
"Of course, Mrs. Wellington. If you two will follow me to my car, I can take you to Agent Bristow and Agent Vaughn. Keep in mind though- I can only lead you so far without the chance of discovery by the Alliance. And helping CIA agents probably wouldn't up my standing at SD-9." Arthur smiled again.  
  
"Of course, Agent Caleb. We're grateful for any help you can give us." Jack assured him as he released the emergency stop button and the doors opened again.   
  
The three people quickly and nonchalantly scanned the garage for anyone watching. No one was there, and the rain outside was becoming an all-out storm.  
  
Irina and Jack got into the back of his car, as Agent Caleb got into the driver's seat. A silence fell between the three of them. The only sound was the rain pounding against the window. Finally, Agent Caleb spoke.  
  
"So, you two are both agents and you're married? That's kind of cool." He grinned at them in the rear view mirror.  
  
Jack and Irina didn't say anything, waiting for him to continue.  
  
"So how'd you two meet?"  
  
"A Christmas party thrown by a friend of mine. I'd been working at the CIA for awhile, and she'd just started." Jack said, smiling as if remembering this fictitious memory.  
  
"I gave him my number at the party, and we dated for a year and a half until he finally proposed." Irina said jokingly.  
  
"Do you two have any kids?" Agent Caleb asked.  
  
"We have a son in college." Irina said, remembering that their alias profiles had mentioned that.   
  
"Does he want to go into the CIA?" Caleb asked.  
  
"I hope not- I wouldn't wish this life on my child." Irina refused to look at Jack when she said this.  
  
Silence fell again as Jack was dying to reply angrily to her comment, but knew that probably wouldn't help their cover much. He clenched his fists slightly, staring out the window as thunder rumbled in the distance.  
  
~*~  
  
Finally, after what seemed like hours of driving in silence, they reached a large office building.  
  
"Welcome to SD-9." Caleb said, looking up at the building with an expression of hate.  
  
Irina and Jack sat there, waiting for him to explain how they could get to Sydney and Vaughn.  
  
"All right, so here's the situation. I can get clearance to visit the prisoners; if I do it under the guise that I want to take part in the questioning. But the only problem is, my clearance won't come through until 10:00 tonight, standard procedure."  
  
"Why didn't you ask for clearance yesterday?" Jack demanded, frustrated at this delay.  
  
"You have to schedule a meeting to get a clearance. This was the first time my superior could meet with me."  
  
Jack frowned, but didn't say anything else.  
  
"Anyway, so I'll get clearance tonight, and I'll call the two of you as soon as I get there. I can only guarantee an hour block of time when you two can safely enter-that's as long as I get with them. I'll be alone with them in there from 11:00 to 12:00 tonight, you two can safely enter then. But escaping is up to you. I can't help you there."  
  
"As we expected." Irina nodded.  
  
"How do we know how to get there?" Jack asked.  
  
"All right, well, until I call you, you'll stay in a SD-9 safe house. We use it to harbor agents who need to disappear for a while. Its air conditioning system is connected to the system in the building where Sydney and Vaughn are being held. It's the only way I can think of to get you in without the security cameras seeing you. At 10:30, I would suggest starting to go through the vents. These glasses," he handed them two pairs of thick, dark glasses, "are capable of viewing through solid metal. With these, you'll know when you're above the proper room. The room they are in is on the 3rd floor. The vents will all be labeled starting with the number three. If you get there in time, it will be just be me in there with them. If not, you enter at your own risk."  
  
Irina and Jack nodded, tucking the glasses into their vests.  
  
"Here we are. That's the safe house over there. I can get you in, and just wait there for my call." He pulled up in front of a dark, small building that was connected to the very back of SD-9 headquarters.   
  
He stepped out of the car with them, pulling out his agent identification. The guard at the front looked at his pass, then looking at Jack and Irina.  
  
"They're with me." Agent Caleb explained.  
  
The guard nodded, opening the door to the safe house. Agent Caleb walked in with them. It only had one room, and it looked much like a very sparsely decorated apartment. Books lined one wall; it had a television and two beds. There was a small closet, and a fridge.   
  
"Sometimes our agents have to stay here for months at a time. We like them to feel like they have all the comforts of home." Agent Caleb smiled.  
  
"Thank you for this, Arthur. We truly appreciate it." Jack said sincerely, as Irina put their gear on one of the beds.  
  
"Of course, Agent Wellington. Good luck to both of you." He smiled, walking out the front door. It closed with a dull thud.  
  
"This entire place is reinforced with steel walls and doors." Irina noticed, sitting down on the edge of the other bed.  
  
Jack was looking at the ceiling at the air conditioning vent.  
  
"Something wrong, Jack?"  
  
"No…I was just thinking, if he's lying to us, we're walking right into a very dangerous trap."  
  
"You're so paranoid." She shook her head.  
  
He looked coldly at her.  
  
"Now, why would that be? What reason would I possibly have for being suspicious of people I think I can trust?" He asked pointedly.  
  
"All right, Jack, point taken. But may I remind you, you asked me to come on this mission. If you have such a problem with trusting me, why would you do that?"  
  
"I had just learned that our daughter might be in mortal danger. I was obviously not thinking clearly!" Jack said.  
  
"Are you so sure of that? Maybe you were thinking clearly, and you wanted me to come for reasons you're not quite ready to admit!" Irina said, standing up.  
  
Jack didn't reply for a moment, and she instantly wanted to take that back. He stared evenly at her for a moment.  
  
"I'm not quite sure what you mean." He asked, daring her to elaborate.   
  
"Forget it, Jack." Irina rolled her eyes, sitting back down.  
  
"If you're suggesting what I think you're suggesting, let me assure you that you're completely mistaken." Jack said.  
  
"Oh, really?" She stood up, facing him again.  
  
"Yes. Really." Jack met her eyes, refusing to look away.  
  
It was like two animals sizing up their competition, knowing that the lesser fighter would look away first. Irina crossed her arms, not even blinking. Finally, she spoke.  
  
"You can honestly say that you feel absolutely nothing for me?" She said quietly.  
  
"I don't even know you."   
  
"You know what I think, Jack? I think you've been wondering ever since I came back how much you really do know about me. You know it would have been impossible for me to have been lying to you every single second of our relationship, and you're wondering which parts of Laura Bristow were Irina Derevko. And you're wondering if sometimes the woman you fell in love with was just me."   
  
Jack still didn't speak, but she saw that part of him knew she was right. So she continued.  
  
"You're also wondering if me being in love with you was completely an act."  
  
Jack looked down for a moment, then met her eyes again. When he finally spoke, his voice was slightly hoarse and very quiet.  
  
"Was it?"  
  
~*~  
  
A/N- Hehe, my first cliffhanger. Please review-the more reviews, the faster I write! Thanks again for all your input, please keep it coming-chapter three will be up soon! 


	3. The Storm

A/N- Thanks for sticking with this guys, please keep reviewing. Hope ya'll enjoy.  
  
Always  
Part Three  
  
Irina was a little taken aback. She rarely had seen Jack look so emotionally vulnerable. She thought carefully about how to answer what should have been such a simple question, but was weighted with so much that it could not be treated as one. For a moment, the only sound was the rain pounding against the ceiling. Finally, she spoke.  
  
"Of course I loved you, Jack. Contrary to what you seem to think, I'm not made out of stone."  
  
He swallowed, looking down for a minute. She continued.  
  
"I mean, I don't know what I was thinking when I took that assignment. How could I have possibly thought that I could marry someone, have his child, live as his wife for ten years, and not feel anything for him? It was stupid and naïve to even consider myself being capable of. To be completely honest, you were the only person I ever really was in love with. My entire life."  
  
Jack didn't really seem to know what to do with that. So, he put up his usual defenses.  
  
"Don't you find that pathetic that the only meaningful relationship you've ever been in was completely predicated on a lie?" He said harshly.  
  
She didn't reply for a moment, uncrossing her arms wearily. They both heard thunder rumbling outside.  
  
"You have absolutely no idea how much I wanted to stay, Jack. By the time the KGB told me I had to disappear, I wasn't even pretending with the two of you anymore. I was Laura Bristow, I was your wife, I was the loving mother of our beautiful daughter. It wasn't as if I lost myself, it was as if I finally discovered the life I was meant for. For so long, I thought that the life as an agent of the KGB was the best thing I could have hoped for. But I was wrong. You proved me wrong." When she finished speaking she felt as if a large weight had been lifted off her shoulders, she had wanted to tell him this for so long.  
  
Irina looked at Jack, begging for some sort of response.  
  
"Then why did you go?" He asked.  
  
"I didn't have a choice!"  
  
"You always have a choice!"   
  
"Think about my situation logically, Jack! If I had stayed, the KGB would probably have killed all three of us for my disobedience. If I left, the only two people who meant anything to me would be safe. What would you have done?" She demanded.  
  
Jack realized with a start that he had never even considered that Irina left to protect them. He had so decided on her being utterly evil that it had never really occurred to him.He had just figured that her job was done as Laura Bristow, so she just deserted them without a look back.   
  
"Why should I believe you?" He asked, looking straight at her as if actually considering trusting her.  
  
"Because you love me." She said simply.  
  
Jack's throat went dry at such a bold declaration from Irina. He opened his mouth to deny it, but he knew he would be lying. Damn her. He did still love her. No matter how much his mind told him not to, he couldn't help it. She was the only person he had ever been truly in love with as well. He had fallen for her so hard that his feelings absolutely refused to go away, or even fade in their intensity.  
  
"Jack, I'm sorry. That was--" Irina never got to finish that sentence. Before she could even wrap her mind around what was happening, Jack was kissing her and she was kissing him back.  
  
~*~  
  
Sydney snapped awake from a fitful sleep as the door to the room holding her and Vaughn slid open. The young man had returned, and he was very obviously drunk. He still held a bottle in one hand, smiling at her.  
  
"Still not going to talk, sweetheart?" He said, his words slurring slightly.  
  
"Maybe when you're sober." Sydney said, flexing her now free hands behind the chair. She was ready to fight.   
  
"You're not a very nice girl, you know that, Miss Bristow?" He pointed at her, smiling as he took a long swig from his drink.  
  
"You're breaking my heart." Sydney said sarcastically.  
  
The man came closer to her chair, and Sydney's heart sped up excitedly. He had placed the keys on the table when he had come in. Her chance was coming.   
  
"Maybe I'd feel a little nicer if you let me have some of that." She smiled charmingly, hoping he was drunk enough to fall for that.  
  
"Sure." He shrugged, walking over and holding the bottle to her lips.   
  
She sprung into action immediately. She brought her right hand around, slamming the glass bottle into his face. It shattered, and he howled in pain. She brought the other hand around, upper cutting his chin. He fell back to the floor, bleeding profusely. Sydney quickly turned the chair around, pushing backwards towards the table. Suddenly, his bloody hand grabbed her chair leg, knocking her to the ground. She struggled away, trying to get the chains off the legs of the chair.  
  
The man was covered in blood, but still had a slight advantage due to his freedom of motion. He stood up shakily, and kicked Sydney hard in the gut. She cried out in pain, clutching her side.   
  
"Try that again, and I'll kill you, you little bitch." The man spat on her, leaving the room and taking the keys with him.  
  
The door locked behind him. Sydney finally managed to get her legs free, shaking slightly with pain. She cried out in frustration, waking an unconscious Vaughn.  
  
His bloodied face softened immediately with concern when he saw her.  
  
"Syd…" He said sleepily.  
  
"It's all right, Vaughn. I'm free. I'm going to get us out of here."  
  
"You're hurt." He protested weakly.  
  
She sat up, grimacing, but trying to look as though she wasn't hurt that bad. Her hand was cut, she noticed. It must have happened when she broke the bottle, but her adrenaline had been racing, so she hadn't noticed.  
  
"Vaughn…I'm fine. I'm going to get us out of here. Don't worry." She managed a weak smile.  
  
~*~  
  
Irina sat against the head of the bed, sheets pulled around her bare frame. Jack slept peacefully next to her. She couldn't believe what had just happened.   
  
She always found it strange to see the transition in Jack from stoic to passionate. She realized with a slight smile that she was probably the only person who even knew that transition was possible.   
  
Her mind was still processing what had happened between them. She had told Jack he loved her, and then decided that was too bold and possibly untrue, so she had started to apologize. Before she could even finish, he had kissed her. She had responded without even thinking, it was strange that something that hadn't happened between them in twenty years was still almost automatic.  
  
Then they had…well, gotten carried away.   
  
Irina smiled to herself, remembering. Suddenly, she snapped back to the present. They were on a mission. They had to rescue Sydney and Vaughn. She checked the clock on the bedside table. It was 6:15 at night.   
  
She got dressed, listening to the storm still raging outside. She heard Jack stir in bed. Irina looked over at him, as he sat up, looking very confused. She waited for a moment. Jack's tired eyes suddenly got very clear as he saw her standing there.  
  
He didn't say anything, just looked somewhat horrified for a moment.  
  
"You better get dressed." She threw his black outfit for the mission over to him.  
  
He caught it, still not saying anything. He got dressed as well, sitting down on the bed as Irina sat on the opposite bed. After fifteen minutes of silence, Irina let out a loud sigh.   
  
"Jack, this is ridiculous. Are you just never going to talk to me again?"   
  
"What do you want me to say?" He snapped at her.  
  
"Don't get mad at me-you initiated it!"   
  
Jack didn't respond right away. He put his head in his hands, a headache rapidly forming.  
  
"I'm sorry, Irina." He said, without looking up.  
  
"Why? You have nothing to feel sorry for. We are married." She said, smiling slightly.  
  
"I was stressed and tired. I wasn't thinking."  
  
"Fine, Jack." She said, the smile vanishing.  
  
"What'd you think was going to happen, Irina? What, we'd read the newspaper in bed together? Stay up all night talking? We're not some normal married couple! You took care of that! I'm a CIA agent, and you're a prisoner! This never should have happened! I was insane to even consider doing what I did-I don't ever want to talk about it again!" Jack shouted this entire time, and she had never seen him this vehemently upset.  
  
Irina looked away in silence. She felt tears filling her eyes. She quickly blinked them back. Tucking her hair behind one ear, she stood up.   
  
"You're right." She said softly.  
  
"Check our supplies again, we need to leave for the mission in a couple of hours. I'll see what they gave us to eat." Jack said in an emotionless tone.  
  
Irina wordlessly complied.   
  
~*~  
  
  
A/N- That's it for Chapter Three! Please R/R-next time we'll see the Irina and Jack actually get started on the recovery mission. Sydney and Vaughn finally get a chance to fight back-and much more emotional angst, of course. Leave me a nice long review! Thanks! 


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